Microsoft's new application allows you to create a 3D model from the pics you take with your cellphone. Normally a 3D model is a very intensive and requires an expert touch. Now the average person can create a simple 3D model with just a few snaps of the camera (upwards of about 40).

Thanks to Microsoft's Interactive Visual Media Group, this application will soon be out for everyone to use. If you want to generate a 3D model of your car. Simply navigate around the subject (in this case your car) and take as many images from as many different angles as possible. The images will be sent to a server (a cloud server) to be processed. The end result will be compiled with an amped up version of PhotoSynth and the final product will be a beautiful 3D model that can be navigated around with surprising ease and flow.

Eric Stollnitz (a Microsoft researcher on the project) stated "We want everybody with a cell phone or regular digital camera to be able to capture 3-D objects" The Microsoft researchers have also developed a web browser interface that will allow the user to share the 3D models online. This will also work with conventional camera images but the photos will have to be uploaded on a computer in order to be processed.

We are now putting the power to create 3D models into the hands of the average every day person. This is a great step forward for 3D in general. Move over photoshop and make room for 3D.

3DPhotoWorks is releasing a style of printing that is the first of its kind in 3D photographic printing. 3D photographic printing is a combination of traditional photographs (the kind that we all know). This captures the true colors, outlines, and features of the photo. The other part is where the magic happens. This part is more along the lines of being a artist relief of the image. It sculpts out the detail of the image and raises it from the back ground to meet the viewers eye. This adds depth and details that only 3D can bring to an image.

Dominick Insana (VP of national sales for 3DPhotoWorks) stated “The technology we have developed goes well beyond the traditional stereoscopic imaging consumers are familiar with, making it unlike any other print product on the market. For industries where branding or messaging can get lost in a sea of competitors, our unique images cause double-takes and give businesses that extra critical moment to grab consumer attention.”

Through multiple steps in a proprietary technology, 3DPhotoWorks will take any conventional 2D image and produce a 3D photographic image adding depth but keeping in image in tact. The 2D image is converted to 3D by one of 3D PhotoWorks specialists. With the use of specialized software a 3D sculpted relief is formed of the image with depths up to 1.75 inches. The 2D image is then layered/printed on the relief resulting in an image that not only looks great (exact copy of the original 2D image) but also now has the added beauty of depth, really bringing the photos to life.

This product will surly have a large market as businesses look for new an innovative ways to attract customers to their products. With out a doubt 3D is coming on strong and will only get bigger as time continues and the technology catches up with the demand. This is a great way to STAND OUT (so to speak) from other flat 2D advertising. As a side note, I just want to state that you should not confuse this with 3D printing. This is a still a flat panel image with raised aspects to create depth and detail. 3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing technology where a three dimensional object is created by successive layers of material. The end result of 3D printing is an exact replica of the item that you canned in. If you scanned in a flute, you will get out a exact working copy of the flute.

A major complaint about 3D is the lack of transition and lack of compatibility within the 3D world (namely 3D glasses). To ease the problems that arise between the different types of 3D, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is in the process of making a new standard in 3D.

With every new technology advancement there comes a time where the divergence of methods for that technology is crucial to make a new standard across the board. 3D has reached that point. Brian Markwalter (CEA's research and standards VP) states "The expanding presence of 3DTV in the home makes the need for interoperable 3D glasses more urgent than ever," He goes on to say "Industry participation will help meet consumer demand and expectations regarding 3D interoperability in the home."

Having a universal standard in the 3D industry will go a long, long way to help 3D as a whole become the widely accepted technology and common place in nearly every home. This standard will help consolidate 3D and really get it off the launching pad in a big way. So if you had your doubts about the 3D market, wait a little while longer until the 3D world finishes its shakedown of its technologies and the new standard is borne.

On average there are about 4 million babies born each year in the United States. The use of 3D/4D ultrasounds may do more then just give mom and dad to be a better look at their expected loved one. It may be able to provide doctors with some much needed insight into the health of the baby before he or she is born.

In as early as 14 weeks, Doctors can now see a much clearer and complete assessment of the baby's heart while in utero. "Congenital heart defects are the most common of all birth defects, and they are a major cause of infant death." according to Greggory R. DeVore, M.D., director of the Fetal Diagnostic Centers in Pasadena, Calif.

3D/4D ultrasound can greatly increase the detect heart defects before birth. This technology allows clinicians who do not specialize in heart defects to gain a much more detailed assessment of the heart condition of the unborn child. This helps improve the overall detection rate of heart defects of babies still in utero.

So while 2D ultrasounds are routinely used to check on fetal development and to help diagnosis problems with a woman’s pregnancy. There may be a huge benefit in splurging for the 3D ultrasound. And if nothing else, you and your loved one can debate over whose nose your baby has.